1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an oil-overflow alarming system which is incorporated in fryer apparatus used in commercial cooking of food items such as French fries and breaded chicken and works corresponding to opening and closing of a supply valve and a drainage valve of an oil filtering mechanism of the fryer apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In commercial cooking facilities, cooking oil in a frypot is periodically drained therefrom, filtered and cleaned by an oil filtering mechanism, and returned to the frypot to prevent deterioration of cooking oil and allow economical recycle of used cooking oil.
Even when the fryer apparatus includes a plurality of frypots, each being filled with cooking oil, the oil filtering mechanism generally includes only one oil tank with a filter element for saving the space and making the fryer apparatus compact. In this case, the oil tank has a capacity sufficient to receive the whole volume of cooking oil drained from any one of the frypots. Each frypot is connected to a drainage conduit with a drainage valve which is open and closed to initiate and terminate drainage of cooking oil from the frypot to the oil tank, and to a supply conduit with a supply valve which is open and closed to permit or preclude a flow of cooking oil received and filtered in the oil tank and returned to the frypot. Both the drainage valve and the supply valve are operated manually.
When a drainage valve or a supply valve of one frypot is accidentally opened while a drainage valve of another frypot is open for filtration of used cooking oil, cooking oil overflows from the one frypot or the oil tank to damage the floor or injure an operator.